A lawyer for the Stonington Volunteer Ambulance Corps is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a man who was mistakenly declared dead after he was struck by lightning.
Kevin Crandall, a North Stonington man who was struck by lightning and mistakenly declared dead by emergency medical technicians is suing, claiming that lack of treatment at the scene left him with brain damage.
On May 31, 2005, Crandall, a mason and blues musicians, was struck by lightning while building a stone wall. Ambulance company members Victor Lima and Iona Lyons ceased resuscitation efforts and covered Crandall with a blanket. A few minutes later a police officer noticed that Crandall was still alive and he was rushed to the hospital.
Crandall then sued Lima, Lyons and the ambulance company, charging that he suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen because of their actions. The state placed the two emergency medical technicians on one-year probation and ordered them to undergo retraining.
Peter Clark, the attorney representing the ambulance company, has argued in a motion that a judge should dismiss Crandall’s allegation of gross negligence against Lima, Lyons and the ambulance company because gross negligence is not recognized by Connecticut law.
Clark also argued in his motion that Lima, Lyons and the ambulance company are immune from a claim of ordinary negligence because they are protected by the state’s Good Samaritan law.
Crandall’s attorney Stephen Reck has asked a Superior Court judge to hear oral arguments on the issue.